TragicMagic

Hey Guys,

I helped Sal.n (a very new forum user, and very new to car audio) install a Kenwood deck a couple weeks ago into his '02 Civic 2-dr coupe. Because of some poor timing, and not having all the hardware and user manuals required for the amp and deck install, the amp hasn't been installed yet.
Anyway, it wasn't until I was in his car that I realized that he's got OEM component speakers, with the tweeters mounted in pods up by the side-view mirrors. I was under the impression that he had composite speakers, as separate tweeters were never mentioned.

What I'm wondering is there's a way to replace the door speakers with a quality 6.5" mid-bass woofer and amplify those, while keeping the OEM tweeters running off the Kenwood unit? Is this something that can be accomplished? Or is his only option replacing with a new set of components?

Thanks for your time.

Sonic

iTrader: (1)

Most likely the kenwood wont have the ability to cross the tweeter up high, hence you would be getting alot of mid throught the tweeter and possibly over power them, the best thing to do is to replace it all with a component set.

Dukk

IIRC the tweeter has it's own capacitor either right on the tweeter or in the wire between it and the door mid. You would have to wire it separately to the deck. IMO that's too much effort.

I often just leave the factory tweet hooked up when replacing the door mid with a composite driver but prefer to put in a component set if possible.

TragicMagic

That's what I figured. Components are likely the easiest way to go - he'll just have to decide if he wants to spend more money...
Dukk, I essentially did the same thing with my wife's car when I replaced the MBQ mids in the door. I bought components, but left the MBQ tweeters in place. Now I have a new set of cross-overs and tweeters laying around.
I have to ask, when you leave the factory tweeters hooked up, and install the composite speakers, are these with the tweeter mounted in the center of the mid? I knew we could go that route, but I was afraid of what the end result would be with 4 functioning tweeters...
Installing tweeters is a little out of my realm of ability. I'm going to suggest that he gets his comps professionally installed - I'm not really interested in messing up someone's car.

Thanks for the help guys, as usual.

Dukk

Well, IMO if they are installing a composite speaker (coaxial, whatever) then they are likely not fanatical about imaging so the extra tweeters don't hurt. If they do wind up sounding bad, they just get disconnected.

TragicMagic

Components are generally more expensive than their co-axial equivalent. If he can buy a upper-level coaxial it may end up being better than an entry level component for the same price. Right now, he's all about the bass. As are most of us when we first venture into car audio.
The Soundstream amp he's going to use supplies 100W into 4ohm (if the unit does rated, which is questionable). How is the second set of tweeters going to effect the load on the amp, if at all? Are they going to steal power from the coaxial?

Dukk

I wouldn't worry about it - there's so little information up there that it's not a big deal. There's the possibility of overdriving the stock tweeter though so be aware of that. Play it before buttoning it back up.